


Start Spreading the News

by NeoVenus22



Category: Law & Order: SVU, Veronica Mars (TV)
Genre: Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-19
Updated: 2009-12-19
Packaged: 2017-10-04 15:21:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/31691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeoVenus22/pseuds/NeoVenus22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo shuffled into the Special Victims Unit office with his box of effects clutched to his chest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Start Spreading the News

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: VM 2x10, 'One Angry Veronica'; SVU 7x19, 'Fault'

Deputy Leo D'Amato of the Neptune Sheriff's Department shuffled into the Manhattan Special Victims Unit office with his box of effects clutched to his chest. People around him were bustling back and forth, a blur of energy. A giant transparent Plexiglas board took center stage, plastered with a map of the boroughs with various red X's drawn through it. The map was surrounded by photos of women, some clean school shots, some crime scene photos of brutalized victims. Leo swallowed hard, steeling himself. The worst case that Neptune had ever gotten was the Lilly Kane murder, and he hadn't yet been on the force for that.

Leo didn't regret for one second what he'd done for the Echolls kid. Even with a potential murder rap hanging over his head, the guy was a victim. His girlfriend cheated on him with his own father, and then was murdered by him, and Logan was suffering through betrayal of a mythological level. Leo felt sorry for the guy. But he'd be lying if he said he did it for Echolls. It was done for two people: his own sister, who needed that money to have a better life; and for Veronica, who had dumped him in a humiliating fashion, to go and suck face with Echolls, but was still a sweet girl, beautiful but damaged, and he'd help her with anything if she could. He'd heard that she'd broken up with Logan and was dating Duncan Kane again, but if he knew his Veronica, she still cared for Echolls deep down, and wouldn't want him to suffer. And likewise, Leo didn't want Veronica in pain.

He didn't regret helping in whatever small way he could, but it had cost him his job. Fortunately, Keith Mars took pity on him, citing him a loyal deputy, a smart guy, and the only of Veronica's boyfriends who didn't have a criminal record. Keith got him hooked up with another job. Still, he used his own brand of revenge in assuring that the job was on the other side of the country.

And here he was, Leo D'Amato, about to become a detective on the NYC police force, solving rape cases, and scared out of his mind.

"Um, hi," he mumbled, leaning his head in to the first person to walk by him at less than a marathoner's pace. "I'm looking for Captain Cragen?"

She pointed. "Office is right over there," she drawled, bored with him and annoyed at being interrupted.

Leo smiled. "Thank you," he began, but she'd already moved on. Leo navigated through the chessboard of desks to the wood and glass door, shifted his box to one hip, and lifted his hand to knock.

Before he could rap a second time, however, the door swung inwards, propelled open by the urgent pull of a woman with a short haircut and dark clothes. "Olivia, I really think you should reconsider," a man's voice said. "You're the best I've got out there. Your duty is to this unit—"

"My _duty_," the woman interrupted, "is to help protect the citizens. A little boy died because I couldn't."

"Those were circumstances that could hardly be helped, and not your fault. Elliot—"

"Please don't bring him into this," she sighed. Then, huffing slightly, she pushed past Leo with the tiniest of glances. Leo was instead looking inside the office, where a bald man stepped into view, staring after the woman with something indescribable etched into his face. Finally his eyes rested on Leo, and the tiredness in them lifted, if only slightly. "Can I help you?"

Leo shifted the box again, to stick out his hand. "Leo D'Amato. I'm starting today."

The man shook. "Keith's friend, huh?" he said.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, if you're coming with recommendations from Keith..." He let that statement hang in the air, so that Leo could draw whatever conclusions he wanted. "I'm Captain Cragen. Sit down."

Leo shuffled into the office with his box awkwardly, wondering why he was carrying it, hearing the door shut behind him. He placed his things on the ground as quietly as possible, then settled into the uncomfortable chair. Cragen went to sit across from him, folding his hands on his desk. "This isn't going to be like your old job, Leo. A lot of the detectives who come through this unit don't last six months."

"I understand, sir. But I'll work hard."

Cragen's lips quirked in the tiniest of smiles, however wry it might have been. "It's not a question of how hard you work. It's a question of how hard you are."

Special victims. The sex crimes unit. Rape. Homicide. Women. Children. Keith had briefed him on all of this, warned him that it was serious business, and while he thought Leo could be an asset, it was going to be the toughest thing he ever did. And even with this speech, Leo got the impression that Keith was just relaying a message from his friend in the unit. Keith didn't know. You didn't really know until you did it, and then you didn't want to know.

Leo liked working in the sheriff's department. It was a nice job, decent pay, and the occasional cute girl, although he'd promised himself he wasn't going to think about that anymore. But in Neptune, enforcing the law just meant catering to the rich. Even when Leo had broken the law, he'd been catering to the rich. He couldn't make a difference there, and the whole reason Leo had become a cop was to make a difference. So that Tina could grow up in a world that would be as kind to her as she deserved.

He probably wasn't ready, not really. He would probably never be ready. Here, you weren't supposed to get involved, and Leo had a long, sad history of getting involved. But while he couldn't change his past, he could learn from his mistakes and try to dictate his future. He was being given a second chance.

He met Cragen's eye. "I'm ready, sir."


End file.
